Elver season opens this week
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AUGUSTA - The elver fishing season opens Thursday. One fisheries expert said Maine's elvers will be in demand.

Jeff Pierce said he expects the harvest to exceed last year.

In fact, anyone harvesting elvers this year could see dealers paying record prices in excess of $2,000 a pound.

Pierce said "So a lot of the fishermen had to diversify, a lot of the clam diggers and worm diggers. You know, the price has made it so it's helped out a lot of towns. People have been able to pay their property taxes. Think about that."

Last year, fishermen harvested more than 9,000 pounds of elvers, with a value of more than $12 million.